'Sleepy Hollow': TV Show Apologizes for Headless Day Comment in Lieu of Reporters Beheaded by ISIS
The hit Fox TV show "Sleepy Hollow" is usually not surrounded by controversy. Last week, however, during the debut promotion of its Season 1 DVD, the show became aligned with Islamic extremist terrorist group ISIS.
The launch of the show's Season 1 DVD came out amidst the time of ISIS' beheading of two journalists. ISIS had executed two journalists on video and then published it on the Internet. The show on the other hand used social media to promote what they called "#HeadlessDay."
ISIS is the growing international threat that is an Islamic extremist terrorist group. On Aug. 19 the group released a video showing the decapitation of American photojournalist James Foley. Then two weeks later, another video surfaced of another beheading of another American, Steven Sotloff, Deadline reported. In the video there was an ISIS militant dressed in black, threatening him and saying, "The life of this American citizen, Obama, depends on your next decision."
After the news broke, a few minutes later the promotion for "Sleepy Hollow" came via email to certain journalists. Think Jam is the name of the public relations firm that sent out those emails to journalists. And, the PR company used social media platforms, such as Facebook and Twitter, to promote "#headlessday." (You can find one of the promotional photos used in the campaign below this article.)
Think Jam -- the marketers for this Fox series campaign -- apologized for kicking off the "National Headless Day" promotion. The "National Headless Day" was scheduled for Sept. 2.
"We apologize for the unfortunate timing of our Sleepy Hollow Headless Day announcement," the firm said in a statement, New York Daily News reported.
"The tragic news of Steven Sotloff's death hit the Web as the email was being sent. Our deepest sympathies are with him and his family, and we don't take the news lightly. Had we have known this information prior, we would have never released the alert and realize it's in poor taste."
"Sleepy Hollow" is based off of the 1820 short story "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow," written by Washington Irving. In the book as well as the TV series it features a headless horseman.
As part of the promotion the "Sleepy Hollow," fans were instructed to collect and share commemorative and now morbid eCards in honor of "National Headless Day," New York Daily News reported.
Besides Think Jam issuing an apology, Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment also issued one.
Fox said, "We regret the unfortunate timing of our announcement and our deepest sympathies go out to the families of all involved."
The "Sleepy Hollow" Season 1 DVD is scheduled to come out on Sept. 16. Also expected on that day is a digital download and on Blu-Ray, Deadline reported. A representative for Think Jam said that the promotions were preapproved by Fox and therefore scheduled in advance.
The social media campaign that was used to promote "Sleepy Hollow" also the became avenue in which people complained about the insensitivity.
One Twitter user wrote, "That campaign should've been nixed weeks ago after the first IS assassination."
And another added, "Marketing gone tragically wrong," New York Daily News reported.
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